Meet Laura Gabriel

She calls herself a “mountain-photographer” and belongs to an Instagram collective of outdoorsy people who share the same passion for the Swiss Alps and Photography called TheAlpinists.

Laura Gabriel is currently studying Materials Science in Zürich, but spends almost every free weekend in the Swiss Alps hiking and capturing the moments with her camera. She’s definitely an outdoor enthusiast and has built up a group of like-minded people around her with which she goes on these adventurous photo trips into nature. She’s the youngest photographer and so far (sadly) the only woman participating in the exhibition.

How she got into Photography and the Role of Instagram in her Development

Laura Gabriel is a self-taught photographer who acquired lots of her skills by simply by trying out new techniques. As the beginning of her “photographic” journey, she describes the time about five years ago when she founded a photography page on Facebook with a friend. About three years ago she discovered her by far biggest passion: mountains and hiking. The more she went on trips the more important her camera became as a constant companion. Taking pictures of her surroundings made her even more aware of its beauty and made her see things from different angles and perspectives.

Instagram played another major role in her development as a photographer. That’s how she got to know many other people who share the same passion for photography and the mountains. They’re one of her sources of inspiration and motivation. With a few other outdoor enthusiasts she founded a collective on Instagram called TheAlpinists. Many of the members of the collective have an astonishing number of followers. As of today Laura has almost reached 20k followers on Instagram.

Her Style

As you could have guessed, Laura Gabriel specializes in landscape photography with her favourite subject being the mountains. However she’d also like to improve her portrait skills. When shooting pictures of the landscape she likes it to be pure nature but sometimes also appreciates the charm of a wooden cabin in the composition. That’s how she describes her style and the goal she wants to achieve with her work:

“Special about my photography is that I often visit rather unpopular places. There are so many spots that have become very popular in Switzerland lately. I try to avoid those spots and to be creative in organizing my own trips. But in general, my goal is that people who look at my pictures get a desire for mountains or nature.”

Her Workflow

Normally Laura Gabriel takes a lot of pictures while hiking and exploring during a day. Some of them are taken very spontaneously and others are “kind of planned”, as she phrases it. Planned as in advising a friend to climb up rock to take a picture of them. She uses the Sony alpha 6000 to take her pictures and Lightroom to edit them. She edits her pictures in order to make them look how she felt when she take them. She considers that process an art itself.

Her Favourite Place to Live

Unsurprisingly Laura Gabriel with her current home country. What she loves most about it is how diverse and small it is, which enables her to quickly get from urban areas into the nature. Thus she values how widespread the Swiss public transport system is. Whatsoever she shares the interest in northern countries with three of the four other photographers participating in the AFU exhibition (Stephan Zürrer, Markus Fischer, and Andrin Winteler). The north seem to be very popular among photographers.

“I could also imagine to live somewhere in Norway. I really like the open people and their mentality. Furthermore, it’s a stunning country with a lot of untouched places to discover!”

Her Dreams and Wishes

In the future Laura Gabriel wants to travel more and would love to go on a trip around the world someday. Lofoten, Canada, Patagonia, Nepal, Lapland, California are among the many places she’d like to visit. With her love for nature also comes her environmentally conscious lifestyle. Among many things walking and taking buses instead of flying is one thing she does when travelling to protect the environment. One of her greatest wishes is:

“I wish that people lived more consciously and appreciated and therefore protected the nature more.”

Share this entry

I love the top photo. Gorgeous! And Sony Alpha 6000 is a great camera. I like Sony panoramic shots better than other cameras. Although I am playing with my Nikon D5500, my compact Sony is still my favourite. It appears to me, you also have a great habit of experimenting with photo shoots. Cool!

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Drifter Life Photography

Come drift across the globe with me and my camera!

I'm a 19-year-old travel addict from Switzerland, currently taking gap to fulfill my dreams of traveling the world. On my blog you can learn how to get the "local experience" out of your next travel destination and how to volunteer your way around the globe.